Cited by 403Treatment of Major DepressionStress Responses and CortisolNeurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Neural basis of major depressive disorder: Beyond monoamine hypothesis

Open access
Boku, Shuken, Nakagawa, Shin, Toda, Hiroyuki, Hishimoto, Akitoyo·2018·Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences

Abstract

The monoamine hypothesis has been accepted as the most common hypothesis of major depressive disorder (MDD) for a long period because of its simplicity and understandability. Actually, most currently used antidepressants have been considered to act based on the monoamine hypothesis. However, an important problem of the monoamine hypothesis has been pointed out as follows: it fails to explain the latency of response to antidepressants. In addition, many patients with MDD have remained refractory to currently used antidepressants. Therefore, monoamine-alternate hypotheses are required to explain the latency of response to antidepressants. Such hypotheses have been expected to contribute to identifying hopeful new therapeutic targets for MDD. Past studies have revealed that the volume of the hippocampus is decreased in patients with MDD, which is likely caused by the failure of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and following elevation of glucocorticoids. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the volume of the hippocampus: (i) the neuroplasticity hypothesis; and (ii) the neurogenesis hypothesis. The neuroplasticity hypothesis explains how the hippocampal volume is decreased by the morphological changes of hippocampal neurons, such as the shortening length of dendrites and the decreased number and density of spines. The neurogenesis hypothesis explains how the hippocampal volume is decreased by the decrease of neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. These hypotheses are able to explain the latency of response to antidepressants. In this review, we first overview how the neuroplasticity and neurogenesis hypotheses have been developed. We then describe the details of these hypotheses.

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  • There is a complex relationship between the HPA axis, glucocorticoid receptors, epigenetic mechanisms, and psychiatric sequelae.

    “There is a complex relationship between the HPA axis, glucocorticoid receptors, epigenetic mechanisms, and psychiatric sequelae [130,212].”
  • Factors such as low cognitive ability/function, cognitive vulnerability, cognitive impairment or deficits, subjective cognitive decline, regression of dendritic branching and hippocampal atrophy/death of hippocampal cells, impaired neuroplasticity, and neurogenesis-related aspects have been linked to depression.

    “The results show that factors, such as low cognitive ability/function, cognitive vulnerability, cognitive impairment or deficits, subjective cognitive decline, regression of dendritic branching and hippocampal atrophy/death of hippocampal cells, impaired neuroplasticity, and neurogenesis-related aspects, have been linked to depression [131,212,222,223,224,225,226,227,228,229,230,231,232,233,234,2”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Cameron HA, Woolley CS, McEwen BS, Gould E. Adult neurogenesis is regulated by adrenal steroids in the den- tate gyrus. Neuroscience 1993; 56: 337-344.
  2. Santarelli L, Saxe M, Gross C et al. Requirement of hippo- campal neurogenesis for the behavioral effects of antide- pressants. Science 2003; 301: 805-809.
  3. Song H, Stevens CF, Gage FH. Astroglia induce neurogen- esis from neural stem cell. Nature 2002; 417: 39-44.

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Authors
Boku, S., Nakagawa, S., Toda, H., & Hishimoto, A.
Affiliations
  • Kobe University (JP)
  • Hokkaido University (JP)
  • National Defense Medical College Hospital (JP)
Corresponding author
Boku, Shuken
Venue
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-10-19
Volume
72
Issue
1
Pages
3-12
ISSN
  • 1323-1316 (ISSN-L)
  • 1440-1819
OpenAlex
W2770859047
Cited by
402
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 30 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 61 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 72 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 9
FWCI
2.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
Keywords
major depressive disorder, monoamine hypothesis, antidepressant resistance, hippocampal volume, hippocampal neurogenesis, dentate gyrus, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, glucocorticoids, therapeutic target
MeSH terms
Major Depressive Disorder, Glucocorticoids, Hippocampus, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Neuronal Plasticity, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Stress, Psychological, Neurotransmitter Agents, Neurogenesis

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